Mississippi second only to Iowa in KKK groups per capita

Mississippi is second only to Iowa in the number of Ku Klux Klan groups per capita, according to a report released today by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The rise in Klan membership in Mississippi coincides with what the center describes as an explosive growth over the past year in extremist organizations across the U.S. Anti-government groups saw a 244 percent increase.

Iowa, with a population of 3 million, has a dozen Klan groups. Mississippi, with a population of 2.9 million, has nine Klan groups, tied with Louisiana, which has 4.4 million.

Texas has the most with 26 groups, but it has a population more than eight times larger than Mississippi’s. Tennessee has 15 groups with a population of 6.2 million.

In addition to the Klan, the center identified Mississippi as having 10 white nationalist groups, six “patriot groups,” one racist skinhead group and one neo-Nazi group.

Back in the 1960s, Mississippi was a safe haven for the Klan, with some estimates putting membership at more than 10,000. The Klan became a powerful political force as well with their members voting as a bloc.

The Klan also became a violent force. The FBI blamed the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for at least 10 killings in Mississippi, including the 1964 killings of three civil rights workers, commonly known as the Mississippi Burning case.

By the late 1980s, the Klan had all but died in Mississippi. States such as Indiana, Pennsylvania and even California typically boasted more Klan groups than the Magnolia State.

Over the past decade, however, the Klan and other white supremacist groups have made a resurgence in Mississippi.

Richard Barrett

After the University of Mississippi chancellor moved last fall to get rid of the chant during football games, “The South Will Rise Again,” white supremacist Richard Barrett, who heads the Nationalist Movement, appeared on the Ole Miss campus, showing his support for the chant.

On Nov. 21, a dozen members of the Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (many in their teens and early 20s) marched on campus. About 250 people gathered to protest the presence of the Klansmen.

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About The Author

Jerry Mitchell, an investigative reporter for The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., runs Journey to Justice, a blog that explores the intersection of justice and culture in this place we call the United States​. His work has helped put four Klansmen behind bars, including the assassin of NAACP leader Medgar Evers in 1963 and the man who orchestrated the Klan’s 1964 killings of three civil rights workers. His latest stories have helped lead to the arrest of serial killer suspect Felix Vail — the last known person seen with three women. Mitchell, a 2009 MacArthur fellow, is writing a book on cold cases from the civil rights era.